3rd Battalion Massachusetts Rifles

3rd Battalion Massachusetts Rifles
Country	United States of America
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Union Army
Type	Infantry
Commanders
Notable commanders	Major Charles Devens

The 3rd Battalion Massachusetts Rifles was an infantry unit created at the start of the American Civil War and activated for federal service in the Union army for a term of ninety days. It consisted of three companies of prewar militia and one newly recruited company together organized under the command of Major (later Brevet Major General) Charles Devens.^[1] The term "rifles" was a designation frequently given to antebellum militia companies which trained in the use of rifled muskets—a relatively new innovation at the time—as opposed to smoothbore muskets. Only minor differences in training and tactics differentiated such units from a typical infantry company of the time. During the 1840s, "rifle" companies were often expected to train and serve as skirmishers in open order, however by the Civil War, United States army tactics manuals made no distinction between a company of "rifles" and a typical infantry company.^[2]

The organization of the battalion began on April 19, 1861 in response to Abraham Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteer troops at the start of the war. When they departed, the 3rd Battalion completed the required quota from Massachusetts under that initial call.^[3] For most of its term, the battalion served garrison duty at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. They did not see combat. The unit returned to Massachusetts and was mustered out on August 3, 1861. Two of its members died of disease.^[4]